MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — Moments ago, WVU announced the signing of the top player in the state of West Virginia! BRAYDON HAWTHORNE, a 6´9 190 pound forward from Huntington, West Virginia, has officially signed to play for his home state Mountaineers!
Hawthorne, who is ranked as the #1 player in West Virginia in the 2025 class and 67th best small forward in the nation, chose West Virginia over offers from Ohio, Pepperdine, Old Dominion, Florida Gulf Coast, Mount St. Mary´s and several others!
“We are thrilled to welcome Braydon to our Mountaineer family,” DeVries said in a statement released by the university today. “Braydon has tremendous upside and positional size at 6-foot-9 on the wing. His skill, shooting and length as well as being a 4.0 student and West Virginia native are things we valued in his recruitment. We are excited to help Braydon develop here on and off the court.”
In his commitment announcement, Hawthorne said the following: ¨First off, I would like to thank God for being with me on this journey. Without Him, I would be nothing. Next, I want to thank my family and friends for being so supportive during this process. With that said, I am committing to play for the school I´m committed to, West Virginia University.¨
According to the press release from WVU, ¨Hawthorne currently attends Huntington Expression Prep in Huntington, West Virginia, playing for coach Arkell Bruce. He is currently averaging 13 points and eight rebounds per game. Hawthorne previously attended Woodrow Wilson High in Beckley. He was the MVP at the Dr. Pepper Classic and rated as one of the top standouts at the Paul Biancardi Camp. Hawthorne also pays for the Phenom United 25′.¨
Committed!! 💙💛 pic.twitter.com/W0Fte9slZh
— Braydon Hawthorne (@BraydonH20) October 4, 2024
Hawthorne is a long, lanky big guard/small forward who could grow into an exceptional talent for the Mountaineers. As you can see in the highlights below, Hawthorne is a very capable ball-handler and shooter for a high school player his size. West Virginia now has the 19th ranked 2025 recruiting class in the nation with Hawthrone, four star guard Kelvin Odih and four star forward Trent MacLean.
Check out some of my film 🎥 (6’8 Wing 2025) pic.twitter.com/9TUdzoaSY2
— Braydon Hawthorne (@BraydonH20) March 16, 2024
